Tag: Racing

Dual Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse has owned the Selene in recent years, with victories in the last five runnings among his total of eight scores of the open 1 1/16-mile race for 3-year-old fillies at Woodbine.

That streak was expected to continue in Saturday's renewal of Woodbine's Grade 3 test but Wonder Wheel, winner of last year's Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) en route to divisional Eclipse Award honors and the 3-5 choice in the field of nine, spun her tires while her unheralded stablemate Solo Album romped to a 6¼-length score.

Solo Album had led throughout when winning her maiden in her sixth career start and local 2023 debut over 1 1/16 miles May 12 at Woodbine.

Those tactics were changed in the Selene as Sahin Civaci, riding Solo Album for the first time, took the Kentucky-bred Curlin filly off the pace after she broke from the outside in the field of nine.

“Before, in the paddock, Mr. Casse called and told me not to go to the front, there's going to be some speed up there, lay up close though, so that's what we did.

“I saw Wonder Wheel getting boxed in a bit, but he (jockey, Patrick Husbands) managed to get out and I was sitting there outside of him, I was waiting for him to move. When I saw he wasn't having much horse, I did make that move just to save up ground and not get caught out wide. While she was in the momentum, I just kept her with her momentum and she finished up really strong.”

Honor D Lady, one of three invaders trained by Saffie Joseph Jr., along with Be My Sunshine and Blind Spot, rallied from last and could not seriously threaten the winner but outfinished Tito's Calling for second money.

Tito's Calling, sent off at 45-1, was a half-length back in third as one of four Woodbine Oaks nominees in the field along with Fortyfiveseventy (fourth), Dolce Sopresa (fifth) and Speed Trap (ninth).

Be My Sunshine had led through fractions of :23.72, :47.14, and 1:11.20 pressed by Dolce Sopresa and Speed Trap, before weakening to finish sixth. Blind Spot also tired to finish seventh with Wonder Wheel ending next to last. Friends for Life was scratched.

The final time was 1:42.65.

The Selene is the final local stepping-stone for the Woodbine Oaks, a $500,000 race for Canadian-bred 3-year-old fillies, which will be run on July 23.

A $535,000 Keeneland September yearling sale purchase in 2021, Solo Album races for Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, Gary Barber and Steven Rocco. The win in the Selene seriously enhances the value of the filly, who is out of the Arch mare Summer Solo. She was bred by Payson Stud Inc.

Solo Album paid $21.10 for the win.

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Madaket Stables and Bill Strauss' Sopran Basilea notched her first North American victory in the $250,300 Robert G. Dick Memorial (G3) Saturday at Delaware Park, where her trainer, H. Graham Motion, won the event for fillies and mares for the ninth time.

With Jorge Ruiz aboard, the 5-year-old daughter of Night of Thunder won by a neck over Ever Summer. It was a half-length farther back to Parnac in third.

Sopran Basilea finished the 1 3/8 miles in 2:20.27 on turf rated as soft.

Previously, Sopran Basilea finished second in the Gallorette (G3) at Pimlico in her North American debut on May 20. In 2021 and 2022, the Irish-bred compiled a record of five wins, five seconds and a third from 15 starts, including two victories and three seconds in Group 2 and 3 races mostly at distances going 1 1/4 miles or longer in Italy.

“Jorge gave her a beautiful ride,” said winning trainer H. Graham Motion. “I honestly did not know she was this good, but off of her European form, she looked like she was. She ran beautiful. She tries hard, she is genuine and very honest. She ran super and she could not have done much better than that.”

Motion is not sure about her next start.

“I really have not thought much beyond this race,” Motion said. “Obviously, there is the Glenn Falls at Saratoga, which would fit, but we will see.”

Since the Robert G. Dick Memorial was inaugurated in 1997, Motion has won the race with Guilty Twelve (2017), Real Smart (2016), Caprice (2009), Rosinka (2007), Alternate (2003, 2004), New Economy (2002), and Bursting Forth (1999).

“This has been a really lucky race for us,” Motion said. “I feel very lucky, but it is not a complete surprise for us because we do train a lot of distance fillies, but we are so lucky. We have a great history with Delaware, so this is very special.”

Sopran Basilea returned $9.00 as the third choice in the field of seven and she covered the mile and three-eighths in 2:20.27 over a soft turf course. She raised her record to six wins from 17 starts with earnings of $512,145.

Sopran Basilea was bred by Adam Sexton from the King's Best mare Kathy Best. She sold for $317,225 at the 2022 Arqana December breeding stock sale in France.

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It was a big day at Ellis Park for trainer Greg Foley on Saturday. He won the $225,000 Kelly's Landing Stakes with million-dollar-earner Bango, an 11-10 favorite owned by Tamaroak Partners. That horse was expected to win. Foley capped off the day at the Henderson, Ky., track with a 46-1 upset of the Grade 2, $400,000 Wise Dan Stakes with Stitched. Not many people saw that one coming, despite the late addition of Flavien Prat in the saddle.

Stitched, a 4-year-old Mizzen Mast colt bred in Kentucky by Nathan McCauley and owned by McCauley in partnership with Michael Olszewski and William J. Minton, rallied wide around the final turn and into the stretch to win the 1 1/16-mile Wise Dan in a shocker by a neck. Get Smokin, who set all the fractions, gave way stubbornly down the stretch and held second by one length as the 4-1 second choice ahead of even-money Set Piece, who was last early and made a belated rally to be third. Completing the order of finish were Hozier, Camp Hope, Harlan Estate, Kittansett, Play Action Pass, Tut's Revenge, and Cowboy Justice.

Stitched, winning for the sixth time in 13 starts, paid a whopping $94.50 after completing the 1 1/16 miles on good turf in 1:40.97

Ten older horses lined up for the Wise Dan, one of six stakes on the program that was originally scheduled to be staged at Churchill Downs but moved to Ellis Park over safety concerns at the Louisville oval.

“It was a big day for sure,” Foley said. “Those are two nice horses.”

Stitched, who broke his maiden carrying a $30,000 claiming tag in January 2022, won a pair of non-graded stakes later in the year before finishing off the board in his graded stakes debut Sept. 10 in the G2 Franklin-Simpson Stakes at Kentucky Downs.

Stitched finished seventh behind crack sprinter Caravel in his 2023 debut in the G2 Shakertown Stakes at Keeneland, then was fifth in the Opening Verse Stakes at Churchill Downs on May 4, beaten three lengths. He then threw in a clunker, getting beaten nearly 15 lengths in an allowance/optional claiming race on June 1 that was meant to be a confidence builder.

“His first two races (in 2023) were good races,” Foley said. “His last race was not. We were disappointed.”

Foley secured the services of Prat earlier in the day.

“The horse went into the race great,” said Foley. “He looked like a million bucks, and we were lucky to get Flavien.”

He added that Stitched “shouldn't have been those kind of odds.”

Prat put Stitched in fourth position early, just a few lengths behind the free-running Get Smokin, who set fractions of :24.44, :48.10, 1:11.76 and 1:34.95 for the first mile. He made a four-wide move into the stretch, had a length to make up at the furlong pole, but was up in time for the win.

 

 

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Highly regarded Fort Bragg secured his breakthrough graded stakes victory Saturday, outdueling a game Saudi Crown in the stretch drive to win the 105th running of the $200,000 Dwyer (G3) for 3-year-olds going a one-turn mile at Belmont Park.

Fort Bragg was initially targeting the Grade 1 Woody Stephens on the June 10 Belmont Stakes (G1)undercard, but was scratched from the seven-furlong test when he developed a fever. The bay son of Tapit was immediately rerouted to Saturday's test and he did not disappoint as the 3-5 favorite, staving off a resurgent Saudi Crown, the 8-5 second choice, to win by a nose for trainer Bob Baffert.

Breaking from post 5 under John Velazquez, Fort Bragg was in the clear in third down the backstretch, sitting 2 1/2 lengths off the early foot of Saudi Crown, who led the six-horse field through an opening quarter mile in :22.47 over the fast main track with Harrodsburg tracking a close second.

Fort Bragg advanced into second position around the far turn through a half-mile in :44.63 and matched strides with Saudi Crown in upper stretch as the well-backed pair separated themselves from the rest. Fort Bragg garnered a head advantage at the stretch call, while Saudi Crown put up one last fight in the final furlong. But Fort Bragg had enough to keep his foe at bay, winning in a final time of 1:35.37.

It was 11 lengths back to third-place finisher Harrodsburg, followed by Joey Freshwater, Alternate Reality and Prove Right.

Fort Bragg added blinkers for the Dwyer, which Velazquez said made a noticeable difference.

“He was pretty professional today,” Velazquez said. “I talked to Bob and he's been a horse that gets to kind of looking around and not really paying attention. With the blinkers today, he was pretty professional. I've got to say that he was pretty easy to handle. When I put half a length in front of the other horse, I'm thinking I was going to win easy, and all of a sudden the horse stayed there and I can't put him away. But I did. It was a good effort.”

Velazquez admitted that the stretch run was harder than he anticipated.

“I thought at the quarter pole I was going to win pretty easy,” Velazquez said. “I put a half-length in front of him [Saudi Crown] and the other horse kept fighting. I kind of hung a little bit, but the other horse kept running. I was like, 'Hey! Don't let him come back at you, pay attention!'”

Fort Bragg entered the Dwyer from a close second in the one-turn Grade 2 Pat Day Mile on Churchill Downs' May 6 Kentucky Derby undercard. He remained at Belmont after being withdrawn from the Woody Stephens and breezed twice over Big Sandy under the watchful eyes of trainer John Terranova and his wife and assistant, Tonja.

“A big shout out to the Terranovas who looked after the horse for me and saddled him today,” Baffert said.

Baffert said Fort Bragg demonstrated marked improvement in the Dwyer.

“He's just figuring it out,” said Baffert, who captured previous editions of the Dwyer with Roman Ruler [2005] and Forestry [1999]. “His last race was huge at Churchill. He just got away bad that day or he probably would have won the race. I think he's getting it all together. They went fast today. He went against a really nice horse and they just laid it down, but class always prevails. It was a good race with two good horses.”

A third-out maiden winner in November going two turns at Santa Anita, Fort Bragg was a distant third in the Grade 2 Los Alamitos Futurity the following month before finishing fifth in a pair of two-turn preps on the Kentucky Derby (G1) trail. But Baffert has not ruled out another future two-turn engagement in a race like the Grade 2, $500,000 Jim Dandy on July 29 at Saratoga Race Course.

“I'll leave that door open. We have some other ones, too,” Baffert said. “We still have the Preakness (G1) winner [National Treasure], don't forget about him. But certainly, we'll have some good horses in all those stakes races up there.”

Fort Bragg is owned by SF Racing, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables, Robert E. Masterson, Stonestreet Stables, Jay A. Schoenfarber, Waves Edge Capital and Catherine Donovan.

Bred in Kentucky by SF Bloodstock and Henry Field Bloodstock, Fort Bragg is out of the stakes-winning New York-bred Shanghai Bobby mare March X Press. He was purchased for $700,000 at the 2021 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall Yearling Sale, where Bedouin Bloodstock consigned him.

Javier Castellano, aboard Saudi Crown, was gallant in defeat but said the outcome could have been different had the Brad Cox trainee drawn an outside post.

“He broke so well and I suspected the other horse outside [Harrodsburg] could go to the lead as well. But he didn't and my horse broke so well out of the gate and he dictated the pace,” Castellano said. “I just took over the flow – I think the track is a little fast, but these are really good horses. The way he did it was very easy, nice and comfortable. Johnny was right there every single step of the way and I tried to open by one, two [lengths] and let him feel comfortable. But he chased me every single step and I think the two best horses showed up and put on a good show. I'm not disappointed and I'm looking forward to more in the future.”

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